Oar lock



C. O. BURR OAR LOCK Filed May 19, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOATTORNEYS C. O. BURR Feb. 5; 1935.

OAR LOCK- Filed May 19, 1933 2 SheetsSheet 2 Patented Feb. 5, 1935 ATE TOFFICE v r c 3. 3 OC CharlesO. Burr, South Non-walk, Conn.ApplicatibnMay 1911932, Serial'No. 671.843

" r 4 Claims.

This invention relates-to-new anduseful improvements in oar:1ocks andhasfor anobject to provide .an oar lock and mounting therefor: in-

cluding means whereby the; oar lock1 may bese i cured in place so thatit will not be lost and yet may be readily'detached.v r p Another objectis to provide an oarlock including meanswhereby an oar will-,not slideout of the car lock and be lost shouldthe operator let go of the oar.

A further object is to provide an oar lock which isso constructed thattwo oars-may be placed in it at the same time and clamped or lockedtogether so that they may be easily carried.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a considerationof the followingde tailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein a satisfactory embodiment ofthe, inventionis shown. However, it will be. understoodthat the invention is notlimited to the'details disclosed butincludes all suchvariations andmodifications as fall within the spirit-of. the invention andthescope ofthe appended claims.- i l i In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view showing the car lock alone;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view showing a portion of a boat witha mountingbracket securedto the gunwale and the stem of the oar lock secured insaid bracket; v

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional viewtaken sub stantially along the line3-3-of Fig. 2; a

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line4--4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view somewhat similar toFig. 4 but showing the lockingaction;

Fig. 6 is an. elevational view illustrating the positioning of a pair ofcars in a single car look in order that the cars will be securedtogetherand more conveniently carried;

Fig. '7 is a view similar to "Fig. 6 but showing the two oars in placein one car look; I

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken substantially r alongthe line 8--8 ofFig. 7;

. Fig. 9 is an elevational view on a reduced scale and showing twocomplete cars in one .oarlock' in position for convenient carrying inonehand; "and Fig. 10 is aperspective viewillustratingthe de vice asmounting a sculling oar.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the improvedoar lock includes abody substantially in the form of a forkcomprising arms 16 and 17-connected at their inner ends by a bight portion 18 from which extends amounting stem or shank 19 at the upper end or 1 which is a washer-likeportion '20- providing a bearing shoulder or surface. A laterallyextending lug 21 is carriedby the innerend portion of the stem 19 andthe inner end portions of the arms 16 and 17 are rounded as at 22 toprovide a rest and bearing surface for an oar. Qutwardly-of said portion22- the arms for a;dist ance extend in substantially parallel relationas regards their inner surfaces as at. 23.

;Th e outerends of the arms are'inturned to extend toward one another asat 24 providing .a restricted throat or opening 25 and innershoulders;26 the purpose of which will later appear. Connected with the bodylo, asto the arm 16 thereof, is one endof a flexible connecting means hereshown asa chain 27. The outer end ofthis chain 27 is connected with aclosed eye 28 formed atone end of a coil spring 29. This spring 29 has.its other end portion bent to form a hook 30 adapted to be engaged withthe eye 28 at certain times as .will'be hereinafter fully set forth.

. -A bracket generally designated 31 is adapted to receive the stem 19of the oar lock and mount the oar look. This bracket is secured to thegun- Wale 32 of a boat a portion of which is generally designated 33.-Bracket 31 includes atop flange 34 and side flanges 35 through whichscrews 36 are passed .to secure the bracket in place. Extendingvertically through the body of the bracketis an opening 37 and thebracket is also provided with akey-way 38 in one side of said opening3'7. The stern 1909113118 oar lock is mounted in said opening 37- andwhen inserting the stem in the opening' the key- -way 38 accommodatesthe laterally extendinglug 21. Figs. 2 and 4 clearly illustrate thatsten 1 19 isof a length to extend entirely throughthe bracket so as todispose the lug 21 below the lower edge of the bracket when thestem isfully, in place. With the parts thus positioned the bearing portion 20rests or bears on the upper or top flange 34 of the bracket. 1

When the car look isthus assembled on the bracket the former is'given apartial turn so as to carry the lug out of registry with the keyway" 38-and preventcasual movement of the oarlock out;.ofthe bracket. This isthe position the lock normally occupies when the car is used for rowing.Thus the oar'has-to be'brought to a position substantially parallel withthe side -of the boat in order to remove the lock from the bracket.-;ies an additional safety ieature, the bra ket i prov dedi he sep e e 3extending across or transversely of the keyway 38 and a pin 40, such forexample as a split cotter pin, as the spring action of itsindividualparts will frictionally retain it in the opening, is provided forinsertion through this transverse opening. As will be apparent from Fig.5 when the pin 40 is in place the oarlock may not be removed. from thebracket since should the lug 21 register with the keyway 38 movement ofthe lug through the keyway will be prevented by the pin 40. A chain 41or other flexible means is connected at one end to the pin and at theother end to the bracket 31 as by a ring 42.

The opening represented by the throat 25 between the outer ends of thearms of the fork is such as to permit of the passage of a blade 43 of ancar and such as to prevent the passage of a loom portion 44 of an oar.It will, therefore, be seen that when the oar lock has been secured tothe bracket by the insertion of the pin 40 through the opening 39, ancar in the lock may not be lifted out of place by any casual movement orby any casual impetus which may be given to the oar and such as islikely to happen in rough water. During use it is the loom of an oarwhich rests on the surface 22 and since the loom portion of the oar maynot bemoved upwardly through the throat 25 and since the oar lock issecured to the bracket by the lug 21, and more particularly by said lugand the pin 40, it will be apparent that there is little danger of theoar getting out of place.

An oar is positioned in the lock, preferably by inserting the bladeportion through the look as suggested with the oar (A) in Fig. 6. Whenthe car is in place the spring 29 is wrapped about "the loom of the oarand the hook 30 of said spring engaged with the eye 28 thereof as alsoillustrated in Fig. 6. The length of the spring 29 is such that it mustbe stretched or tensioned when it is secured about an oar whereby ittightly grips the same so that the oar may not slide through the spring.The spring should be fairly stiff and strong so as to firmly grip theoar and not easily slide thereon. It will, therefore, be understood thatthe spring gripping the oar and being secured to the oar lock by thechain or other flexible means 27, the car and oar lock are securedtogether so that the oar will not be lost shouldthe operator release it.Also, with this particular arrangement the oar lock may remain securedto the oar even when the latter is not in use as when in a boat house orthe like.

From the foregoing it will be seen that when the car lock has beensecured to the bracket 31 it is impossible for the oar lock to casuallybecome disconnected from the bracket. However, on removal of the pin 40from the opening 49 the car look may be lifted out of the bracket afterturning it so the lug 21 is in alignment with the key way 38. Further,the restricted throat portion 25 prevents separation of theoar and lookby vertical movement of the loom portion of the car in the lock. Anadditional advantage of this particular oar lock resides in the factthat it may be used to secure two oars together so that they may beconveniently carried. This last arrangement is clearly illustrated inFigs. 6,7, 8 and 9, the method of inserting the oars in the lock beingillustrated in Fig. 6.

To secure two cars together by the lock, one car, such as the oar (B) ofFig. 6, is positioned in the lock and then the second oar is insertedinto place, the throat 25 of the lock permitting of the passage of theblade 43 of the second oar which is designated (A). When the two oarsare in place the oar (B) will be in engagement with the inner surface ofthe bight portion 18 of the look while the oar (A) will be bearingagainst the inturned portions 24 of the lock as clearly illustrated inFig. 8. The outer end portions of the blades of the oars will be inengagement as shown in Fig. 9 while the loom portions of the oars willbe at a slight incline to one another. The two oars may then be carriedin one hand by gripping one of the oars, the weight of the oars and thecramping action resulting from the holding of only one of them causesthem to be tightly locked together. This will leave the other hand freefor carrying other articles.

Fig. illustrates the application of a bracket 31 to thestern of a boatwhereby the oar lock is mounted to" accommodate a sculling oar 45. Thestructure of the bracket and car look of Fig. 10 does not differ fromthat of the other figures, the only difference residing in the fact thatin Figs. 2througli 5, the device of the'invention is applied to the.side of a boat for rowing whereas in Fig. 10' his applied to the sternof the boat for'sculling. r

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention,'what I claim is:

1. In an oar-lock, a body to receive the loom of an oar, a stemextending from said body to mount the same, a coiled spring to encircleand grip the loom of an oar independent of said body, and flexible meansconnecting said spring to said body.

2. In an'oar lock, a body to receive the loom of an oar, astem'extending from said body to mount the same, a coil spring, hookmeans on the ends of said spring, "said spring adapted to be wrappedabout the loom of an oar and have its ends hooked together whereby thespring encircles and grips the oar,'and flexible means connecting saidspring with said body.

3. In an oar lock, a body including a pair of side arms connected attheir inner ends by a bight portion and having theirouter end portionsextending toward one another and partially closing the space betweenthem and providing an entrance of a width less than the diameter of the"loom of an oar, said arms between the bight and inturned end portionsspaced apart a distance at least equal to the diameter of the loom of anoar, and each of said arms between said portions of a length at leastequal to twice the diameter of the loom of the car whereby the 100mportions of a pair of'oars may be simultaneously clamped inthe car lookbetween its bight portion-and the inturned ends of its arms.

4. In an car look, a body including a pair of side arms connected attheir inner ends and curved to receive and hold the loom of an car whileused in'rowing, said arms having substantially straight portionsextended upwardly above said curved portions with'their outer endportions extending inwardlytoward each other and spaced "apart adistance less than the diameter of the loom of an oar, and saidsubstantially straight portion being of sufficient length for insertionof the loom of a second oar over that of an car in the curved portion sothat both oars are retained'in' thelock by the inwardly turned endportions, and neans for mounting'said lock.

CHARLES O. BURR.

